A Beyond Meat Analyst's 7 Takeaways From Its First Post-Earnings Call

Photo courtesy of Beyond Meat. 

Plant-based food product maker Beyond Meat Inc BYND reported its first-ever earnings Thursday as a public company and hosted a conference call that Bank of America Merrill Lynch had seven takeaways from, the sell-side firm said in a new note. 

The Analyst

Bryan Spillane maintained a Neutral rating on Beyond Meat with a price target lifted from $85 to $101.

The Thesis

Beyond Meat reported a $2-million revenue beat in the first quarter, a 70-basis point gross margins beat and better-than-expected operating income and adjusted EBITDA losses, Spillane said in a Friday note. (See his track record here.) 

The analyst's seven takeaways from Beyond Meat's conference call were: 

• Beyond Meat's 2019 net sales guidance of $210 million or more doesn't include potential new customer deals and already exceeded Spillane's estimate of $197 million.
• The company is expected to break even on an EBITDA basis this year versus expectations for a modest loss.
• The guidance for a high-30s percent gross margin rate and mid-teens EBITDA margins is consistent with expectations.
• The company "expressed confidence" that its supply chain can satisfy a "significant" growth in demand.
• The first-mover advantage is backed by a superior product and an authentic, influencer-supported reputation.
• Potential areas of incremental upside include an expansion into Europe and Asia.
• Expansion into other products or protein forms to bolster category leadership would be supported by R&D activity.

Price Action

Beyond Meat's shares were rallying Friday and trading up by 31.06 percent at $130.40 at the time of publication.